Cash Crunch

U.S. stocks rose Friday after some optimistic news from Europe following this week's steep stock market slide. Not surprisingly, this week's dizziness-inducing economic slingshot has been felt in cities all around the world, not least of which is Hollywood.

Thursday, MGM started to solicit votes from its secured lenders for its planned reorganization. MGM will continue to do business during its restructuring process, such as it is. When MGM comes out from Chapter 11, SpyGlass co-chairman and CEO Roger Birnbaum and Gary Berber will emerge as co-chairman...

There's a lot going on in Hollywood this summer, as the economy and DVD declines continue to take their toll on several struggling distributors, from MGM and Lionsgate to the Weinstein Co., Overture and Apparition. MGM is in flux, as it struggles to pull itself back from the brink of bankruptcy and ...

With MGM creditors calling the shots and debating the future of the studio with MGM management, the cold reality is that no one is going to buy MGM at the valuation the studio needs as it copes with its $3.7 billion debt load. Thus the next phase of MGM's reorganization will likely involve bringing in some entity to exchange some debt for equity and run the studio. Top of the list of possible partners are Spyglass, Summit and the guy who thought up this solution, Amir Malin of Qualia Capital, a private media and entertainment equity fund. He made an offer to infuse MGM with some $500 million to run a lean operation in hopes that the economy a...

As Mark Gill and Neil Sacker's Film Department seeks new funding via an IPO, they're announcing that they're plunking down some of their remaining cash on a new script produced by Michael De Luca, the original action-comedy True Memoirs of an International Assassin, written by Jeff Morris. Why teleg...

MGM has been under serious duress as it attempts to stay in business, while keeping up with even the interest owed on its staggering $3.7-billion debt. While the following statement indicates that the company will be relieved of three interest payments, there are miles to go before MGM comes out in ...

Each day brings more news of a troubled company needing debt restructuring or a management overhaul. The Weinstein Co. and MGM are just the latest examples. All the studios face pressure from their corporate parents in a grim recession amid declining ad and DVD revenues. Sales are down across the bo...

Patrick Goldstein calls around to nail down the new austerity hitting Hollywood. And Kim Masters details pay cuts for Denzel Washington and Tom Cruise, as well as how cost-cutter Disney is trying to deal with spendthrift producer Jerry Bruckheimer, the exemplar of Hollywood's old ways.

The economy is a ruthless, Darwinian Master. Only the strong shall survive, and that applies to the mighty studios as well as everyone else. Sure, the theatrical market is holding up pretty well. But for every Fast & Furious, Star Trek and The Hangover there's a cynically bloated flop like Land of t...

As the reeling economy puts more pressure on Hollywood's giant conglomerates, and the Internet looms as the ultimate unknown devaluator, The Daily Beast's Kim Masters reports that at some point in time, whether it's sooner or later, General Electric will be forced to unload NBC Universal--no matter ...